Nigel Farage said he would have “no choice” but to defend Britain from “betrayal”, if the government delays Brexit beyond March 2019.
Speaking on his LBC show Wednesday, the Brexit leader slammed Prime Minister Theresa May’s “deception” over plans for leaving Europe, stating that he and many other people in the UK will be “furious” if the government delivers a soft Brexit.
“With all these concessions she’s making, it will effectively be Brexit in name only,” the veteran MEP remarked, asserting that the Prime Minister’s plan could take up to a decade to be implemented.
“If they were to delay the implementation of Article 50, and we didn’t even leave the treaties on March 29, 2019 … that would be outright, full, and clear for the public to understand betrayal and in those circumstances, I would have no choice.
“I hope it doesn’t happen, this is my 20th July in Strasbourg,” added Farage, who was broadcasting from the French city.
“I’ve done my bit in elected politics – I never want to have to do it again ever, ever, ever. But if they drop the ball I’ll have no choice.”
A founding member of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), Farage has served as an MEP since 1999, where the influential Brussels branch of Politico said he is “one of the two most effective speakers in the chamber”.
The 54-year-old has led the party through a number of periods, first between 2006 and 2009 — when it won the second highest share of the vote, beating Labour into third place — before standing down to concentrate on contesting Buckingham in the 2010 general election.
After taking the reins as party leader again in November 2010, the colourful campaigner was named Briton of the Year by The Times in 2014, when UKIP’s first-place performance in European Parliament elections earned him the reputation of a “game-changing politician” before another general election defeat caused him to resign again in 2015.
But Farage’s resignation was rejected by the party, which resulted in the UKIP pioneer going on to take a leading role in the Brexit referendum campaign. After Britain’s historic 2016 vote to cut ties with Brussels, he stepped down from the role again to concentrate on broadcasting and other activities.